Green start ups are to receive £35m of government funding to develop and demonstrate low carbon technologies, services, and business models under a new three year government programme unveiled today.

The Energy Entrepreneurs Fund will allow companies to apply for funds of up to £1m that can then be used to leverage private investment.

Successful businesses picked by a panel of investors working for the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) will also be given expert advice on how to bring their ideas to market.

Around £20m of the initial £35m will support energy efficiency technologies, such as advanced lighting and heat pumps, while a further £15m programme focusing on power generation is expected to follow later this year.

DECC also announced a new £3m competition to assess how advanced heat storage technologies could be integrated into domestic heating systems to even out peak electricity demand from devices like heat pumps is due to be launched shortly.

Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey, who is hosting the Clean Energy Ministerial summit in London this week, said the programmes would be ideally suited to helping small, ambitious green companies.

“Part of the way that we’re going to tackle climate change and get clean energy is through innovation, particularly with SMEs,” he said. “This is a practical way that we can make sure we get to the low carbon economy.”